CUP no doubt have their commercial reasons for the appearance of this book, but I find it bizarre and not very funny to be reading of light, eclectic and contemporary ideas in a book with such old-fashioned production values. The strong hard covers would easily withstand being dumped behind the bike sheds on a Friday night not to be retrieved until Monday morning. The reference protocol is very cumbersome, with full citation details in footnotes and only a selection of ‘Works Cited’ at the end of each chapter. It seems designed in the age of the typewriter. It is also full of typos.
Do not be put off by the appearance of the book itself, though. In our age, after the Charlie Hebdo massacre (as Gherovici and Steinkoler remind us) and of a terrifyingly laughable US President, we need this. It is worth sponging down on a Monday morning and clutching as the week begins, not least as a reminder to look for the comedy.